Monitoring target apparatus, agent program, and monitoring system

ABSTRACT

[Object] A monitoring target apparatus, agent program, and monitoring system capable of continuously and stably operating monitoring control are suggested. 
     [Solution] A monitoring target apparatus connected to a plurality of monitoring manager apparatuses is characterized in that the monitoring target apparatus includes, in a memory, a monitoring agent for collecting monitoring information from monitoring target resources among resources constituting the monitoring target apparatus; and monitoring condition management information that defines an event issuance condition for each type of the monitoring target resources; wherein the monitoring agent judges whether to issue an event or not, based on the monitoring information and the monitoring condition management information; and if the monitoring agent issues the event, it transmits the issued event to all the plurality of monitoring manager apparatuses.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a monitoring target apparatus, an agentprogram, and a monitoring system.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, a system comprising a server system, a storageapparatus, and a network device uses management software forcontinuously and stably operating the system. This management softwareis software intended to centrally manage performance information about,and the operating status of, each of the server system, the storageapparatus, and the network device which constitute the system. Themanagement software is disclosed in, for example, Patent Literature 1.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a monitoring system including monitoringtarget apparatuses, such as a server system, a storage apparatus, and anetwork device, and a monitoring computer for monitoring performanceinformation about these monitoring target apparatuses and theiroperating status. Each monitoring target apparatus stores a monitoringagent and this monitoring agent is intended to have the monitoringcomputer centrally manage each monitoring target apparatus by collectingthe performance information and the operating status of resources(processors and memories) of the monitoring target apparatuses andaggregating the collected information in the monitoring computer.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

[Patent Literature 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication(Translation of PCT Application) No. 2011-518359

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

However, if the operation of the monitoring computer for the systemdescribed in this Patent Literature 1 temporarily stops due to adisaster or the monitoring computer can no longer acquire informationfrom the monitoring target apparatuses due to some fault, the system hasa problem of loss of control over targets to be monitored by means of,for example, monitoring and actions until recovery (hereinafter referredto as monitoring control). Particularly, for example, if a bank systemthat needs to be monitored for 24 hours for 365 days is a monitoringtarget apparatus and its monitoring control stops, this will cause aserious problem.

The present invention was devised in consideration of theabove-described circumstances and suggests a monitoring targetapparatus, agent program, and monitoring system capable of continuouslyand stably operating monitoring control.

Means for Solving the Problems

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention ischaracterized in that a monitoring target apparatus includes, in amemory, a monitoring agent for collecting monitoring information frommonitoring target resources among resources constituting the monitoringtarget apparatus; and monitoring condition management information thatdefines an event issuance condition for each type of the monitoringtarget resources; wherein the monitoring agent judges whether to issuean event or not, based on the monitoring information and the monitoringcondition management information; and if the monitoring agent issues theevent, it transmits the issued event to all the plurality of monitoringmanager apparatuses.

Furthermore, in order to solve the above-described problems, the presentinvention is characterized in that an agent program implements: afunction that allows a computer of a monitoring target apparatusconnected to a plurality of monitoring manager apparatuses to include,in a memory, a monitoring agent for collecting monitoring informationfrom monitoring target resources among resources constituting themonitoring target apparatus; and a function that includes, in thememory, monitoring condition management information defining an eventissuance condition for each type of the monitoring target resources; anda function that judges whether to issue an event or not, based on themonitoring information and the monitoring condition managementinformation and transmits the issued event to all the plurality ofmonitoring manager apparatuses when issuing the event.

Furthermore, in order to solve the above-described problems, the presentinvention is characterized in that a monitoring system comprises amonitoring target apparatus and a plurality of monitoring managerapparatuses connected to the monitoring target apparatus; wherein themonitoring target apparatus includes, in a memory, a monitoring agentfor collecting monitoring information from monitoring target resourcesamong resources constituting the monitoring target apparatus; andmonitoring condition management information that defines an eventissuance condition for each type of the monitoring target resources;wherein the monitoring agent judges whether to issue an event or not,based on the monitoring information and the monitoring conditionmanagement information; and if the monitoring agent issues the event, ittransmits the issued event to all the plurality of monitoring managerapparatuses; and wherein the monitoring manager apparatuses receives theevent from the monitoring agent.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

Monitoring control can be operated continuously and stably according tothe present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the outline of monitoringcontrol according to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a monitoring systemaccording to this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an internal configuration diagram of a monitoring targetapparatus.

FIG. 4 is an internal configuration diagram of a monitoring managerapparatus.

FIG. 5 is a logical configuration diagram of a connection destinationmonitoring manager management table.

FIG. 6 is a logical configuration diagram of a monitoring informationcollection definition management table.

FIG. 7 is a logical configuration diagram of a monitoring conditionmanagement table.

FIG. 8 is a logical configuration diagram of an event retransmissionqueue.

FIG. 9 is a logical configuration diagram of an event.

FIG. 10 is a logical configuration diagram of a monitoring conditiondefinition management database.

FIG. 11 is a logical configuration diagram of a monitoring conditiondistribution destination management database.

FIG. 12 is a logical configuration diagram of an action definitionmanagement database.

FIG. 13 is a screen configuration diagram displayed on a monitoringconsole.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating monitoring condition acquisitionprocessing.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating monitoring information collectionprocessing.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating the details of the monitoringinformation collection processing.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating event transmission processing.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating the details of event retransmissionprocessing.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating the details of the eventretransmission processing.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating primary apparatus flag resellingprocessing.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating secondary apparatus flag resettingprocessing.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating event transfer processing.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating action execution processing.

FIG. 24 is a logical configuration diagram of an event queue accordingto a second embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a logical configuration diagram of an event according to thesecond embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a conceptual diagram showing correspondence relationshipinformation.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart illustrating the details of the eventtransmission processing.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart illustrating the details of the eventretransmission processing.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart illustrating primary apparatus flag resettingprocessing.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating secondary apparatus flag resettingprocessing.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart illustrating transmitted event deletionprocessing.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detailwith reference to drawings.

Information about this invention will be explained in the descriptionbelow, using expressions such as “aaa tables,” “aaa lists,” “aaa DBs,”and “aaa queues,” but these pieces of information may not be expressedby means of data structures such as tables, lists, DBs, and queues.Accordingly, information such as “aaa tables,” “aaa lists,” “aaa DBs,”and “aaa queues,” may be sometimes called “aaa information” in order toindicate that such information does not depend on the data structures.Moreover, expressions such as “identification information,”“identifier,” “name,” and “ID” are used when explaining the content ofeach piece of information, but they can be replaced with each other.

The following explanation may be given by using the word “program” as asubject. However, since a program is executed by execution of specifiedprocessing by a processor using a memory and a communication port(communication control device), the processor may be used as a subjectin the explanation. Also, the processing disclosed by using a program asa subject may be processing executed by a computer such as a managementcomputer or an information processing unit. Moreover, part or allprograms may be implemented by dedicated hardware. Furthermore, anembodiment will be explained as a program that operates in a singlethread; however, the embodiment may be implemented by program hardwarethat operates in a multi-thread and multi-process.

Various programs may be installed in each computer by means of storagemedia which can be read by a program distribution server and thecomputer. In this case, the program distribution server includes a CPU(Central Processing Unit) and storage resources and the storageresources further store distribution programs and target programs to bedistributed. Then, as the CPU executes the distribution programs, theCPU for the program distribution server distributes the target programsto be distributed to other computers.

(1) First Embodiment (1-1) Outline of this Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the outline of monitoringcontrol according to this embodiment. As a double active configurationis adopted for monitoring manager apparatuses 20 of a monitoring system1 and even if some anomaly occurs at either one of the monitoringmanager apparatuses 20 and the operation of that monitoring managerapparatus 20 stops, this embodiment is designed to prevent monitoringcontrol of the monitoring system 1 from stopping by executing an actionto make the other monitoring manager apparatus 20 assist or improve theoperation of the monitoring system 1. Furthermore, if the monitoringmanager apparatuses 20 simply have the double active configuration, theplurality of monitoring manager apparatuses 20 may execute the sameaction. So, this embodiment is intended to prevent the execution of thesame action (fault execution of the action) by each of the monitoringmanager apparatuses 20.

Specifically speaking, a monitoring target apparatus 10, the monitoringmanager apparatuses 20 having the double active configuration, and amonitoring console 30 which constitute the monitoring system 1 executethe following processing. Firstly, the monitoring target apparatus 10 isconfigured by storing a monitoring agent 1034 and this monitoring agent1034 periodically collects monitoring information from monitoring targetresources (SP1).

The collected monitoring information is information indicatingperformance information and operating information about resources suchas a CPU activity ratio, a memory activity ratio, process operationstatus, and response performance.

Next, after collecting the monitoring information from the resources(SP2), the monitoring agent 1034 judges whether to generate an event ornot, based on the collected monitoring information and a predeterminedmonitoring condition. The event is: information generated when thecollected monitoring information satisfies the predetermined monitoringcondition; and information indicating that the monitoring targetapparatus 10 is in an abnormal state or a warning state. The monitoringcondition is threshold information indicating whether the abnormal stateor the warning state.

When the monitoring agent 1034 generates an event (SP3), it issues thisevent to each monitoring manager apparatus 20 of the double activeconfiguration (SP4 and SP5). As all the monitoring manager apparatus 20of the double active configuration receive the event, even if one of themonitoring manager apparatuses 20 stops due to some anomaly, it ispossible to continue executing monitoring control based on the eventreceived by the other monitoring manager apparatus 20.

When issuing the event, the monitoring agent 1034 issues an actionexecution request together with the event to either one of themonitoring manager apparatuses 20 (SP4) and issues only the event to theother monitoring manager apparatus 20 (SP5). Since the monitoring agent1034 controls a receiver of the action execution request in this way, itis possible to have only the monitoring manager apparatus 20, which hasreceived the action execution request, execute an action and prevent themonitoring manager apparatus 20, which has not received the actionexecution request, from executing the action. Therefore, it is possibleto avoid fault execution of the action.

Incidentally, the event and the action execution request are illustratedhere in the drawing by distinguishing one from the other for the purposeof illustration; however, the invention is not limited to this exampleand the event may include the action execution request or an action stoprequest to not allow execution of the action. Specifically speaking, theaction execution request may be included in the event by providing anaction flag in the event, setting the action flag to 1, and sending theevent as will be described later in this embodiment. Moreover, the eventcan be included in the action stop request by setting the action flag to0 and then sending the event.

The monitoring manager apparatus 20 which has received the actionexecution request issues an action execution request to the monitoringtarget apparatus 10 or the monitoring console 30 (SP6) and thenterminates monitoring control according to this embodiment.Incidentally, when the monitoring target apparatus 10 receives theaction execution request, it actually executes an action to, forexample, stop the operation of a resource which is an action executiontarget. Moreover, when the monitoring console 30 receives the actionexecution request, it executes an action to notify an administrator ofimprovement of the monitoring target apparatus 10 by, for example,displaying that the monitoring target apparatus 10 is in the abnormalstate or the warning state, on a display screen which is not shown here.

Accordingly, when the monitoring manager apparatuses 20 have the doubleactive configuration and the monitoring agent 1034 generates an event,the event is issued to all the monitoring manager apparatuses 20according to this embodiment. So, even if either one of the monitoringmanager apparatuses 20 stops, it is possible to have the othermonitoring manager apparatus 20 which has received the event issued fromthe monitoring agent 1034 continue monitoring control. Therefore, it ispossible to avoid stoppage of monitoring control.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the monitoring agent 1034controls a receiver of an action execution request and thereby issuesthe action execution request to only one of the monitoring managerapparatuses 20. So, it is possible to prevent fault execution of theaction which can happen when the double active configuration of themonitoring manager apparatuses 20 is simply employed.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to avoidmonitoring control from stopping and prevent fault execution of theaction, so that monitoring control can be operated continuously stably.Moreover, adjustment of the action execution is realized not bycooperation between the monitoring manager apparatuses 20, but byadjustment by the monitoring agent 1034, so that it is no longernecessary to construct a new communication path between the monitoringmanager apparatuses 20. Furthermore, adjustment of the action executionby the monitoring agent 1034 makes it possible for only one of themonitoring manager apparatuses 20 to reliably execute the action even ifa failure occurs at the monitoring manager apparatus 20 or acommunication path connected to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 atany timing.

The details of a storage system and a storage system migration methodaccording to this embodiment will be explained below with reference todrawings.

(1-2) Overall Configuration

FIG. 2 shows on overall configuration of the monitoring system 1. Themonitoring system 1 includes a plurality of monitoring targetapparatuses 10, monitoring manager apparatuses 20 of the double activeconfiguration, and monitoring consoles 30. Each of the plurality ofmonitoring target apparatuses 10 and each of the monitoring managerapparatuses 20 having the double active configuration are mutuallyconnected via communication path N1 so that they can communicate witheach other. The communication path N1 is, for example, a LAN (Local AreaNetwork). Moreover, the monitoring manager apparatus 20 and themonitoring console 30 are connected via communication path N2 so thatthey can communicate with each other; and this communication path N2 isa LAN like N1.

Incidentally, the configuration in which two monitoring managerapparatuses 20 are connected to the plurality of monitoring targetapparatuses 10 via the same communication path N1; however, the samecommunication path does not necessarily have to be used and themonitoring manager apparatuses 20 may be connected to the plurality ofmonitoring target apparatuses 10 via different communication paths.Furthermore, the storage system has been described as being configuredby locating the monitoring console 30; however, the monitoring console30 is not always required and the monitoring manager apparatus 20 mayhave a display function of the monitoring console 30.

Next, the internal configuration of each apparatus will be explainedwith reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.

(1-3) Internal Configuration

FIG. 3 shows the internal configuration of the monitoring targetapparatus 10. The monitoring target apparatus 10 includes a CPU 101 forgenerally controlling the operation of the monitoring target apparatus10, a local disk 102, a memory 103, and a communications I/F 104 forconnecting to the communication path N1. Moreover, they are connected toeach other via an internal bus B1 so that they can communicate with eachother. Specifically speaking, it should be noted that the monitoringtarget apparatus 10 is a server system, a storage apparatus, or anetwork device.

The local disk 102 stores a connection destination monitoring managermanagement table 1021, a monitoring information storage DB 1022, and amonitoring information collection definition management table 1023.Furthermore, the memory 103 stores a monitoring condition managementtable 1031, a primary apparatus event retransmission queue 1032, asecondary apparatus event retransmission queue 1033, and a monitoringagent 1034. These table structures and queue structures will beexplained later (FIG. 5 to FIG. 9).

The monitoring agent 1034 is a program including a monitoringinformation collection service program P1 and a monitoring informationstorage service program P2. The monitoring information collectionservice program P1 is a program for having a monitoring informationcollection module P11 collect monitoring information from resources,having a monitoring information evaluation module P12 evaluate thecollected monitoring information, and having an event creation moduleP13 generate an event based on the evaluation results. The details ofprocessing executed by the monitoring information collection serviceprogram P1 will be described later (FIG. 14 to FIG. 16).

Furthermore, the monitoring information storage service program P2 is aprogram for issuing an event generated by an event issuing module P21and having a monitoring information storage module P22 store themonitoring information in the monitoring information storage DB 1022.The details of processing executed by the monitoring information storageservice program P2 will be described later (FIG. 17 to FIG. 21).

FIG. 4 shows the internal configuration of the monitoring managerapparatus 20. The monitoring manager apparatus 20 includes a CPU 201 forgenerally controlling the operation of the monitoring manager apparatus20, a local disk 202, a memory 203, and a communications I/F 204 forconnecting to the communication path N1. Moreover, they are connected toeach other via an internal bus B2 so that they can communicate with eachother.

The local disk 202 stores a monitoring condition definition managementDB 2021, a monitoring condition distribution destination management DB2022, and an action definition management DB 2023. Each of their DBstructures will be explained later (FIG. 10 to FIG. 12).

Furthermore, the memory 203 stores a monitoring manager P3. Themonitoring manager P3 is a program including an event transfer serviceprogram P31, a configuration management service program P32, an actionexecution service program P33, and a View-I/F service program P34. Thedetails of processing executed by the monitoring manager P3 based onthese programs will be explained later (FIG. 22 and FIG. 23).

Next, each of various pieces of information stored in the monitoringtarget apparatus 10 will be explained with reference to FIG. 5 to FIG.9. Moreover, various pieces of information stored in the monitoringmanager apparatus 20 will be explained with reference to FIG. 10 to FIG.12.

(1-4) Details of Each Structure

FIG. 5 shows a logical structure of the connection destinationmonitoring manager management table 1021. The connection destinationmonitoring manager management table 1021 is a table created by theadministrator by presetting it in the monitoring target apparatus 10 andstores the monitoring manager apparatuses 20, which are destinations tobe connected, and their priority information. This connectiondestination monitoring manager management table 1021 is used whencommunicating with the monitoring manager apparatus 20.

Specifically speaking, the connection destination monitoring managermanagement table 1021 includes a connection destination monitoringmanager host column 10211 and a connection priority column 10212.

The connection destination monitoring manager host column 10211 storesan identifier of the monitoring manager apparatus 20 to which themonitoring target apparatus 10 connects. Furthermore, the connectionpriority column 10212 stores information indicating which monitoringmanager apparatus 20 of the connection destination monitoring managerapparatuses 20 should be a primary apparatus (high priority) or asecondary apparatus (low priority).

Therefore, in the case of FIG. 5, it is shown that the monitoring targetapparatus 10 which stores this connection destination monitoring managermanagement table 1021 is connected to two monitoring manager apparatuses20, “host α” and “host β”; and the monitoring manager apparatus 20 whichis “host α” is set as the primary apparatus and the monitoring managerapparatus 20 which is “host β” is set as the secondary apparatus.

FIG. 6 shows a logical structure of the monitoring informationcollection definition management table 1023. The monitoring informationcollection definition management table 1023 is a table created by theadministrator by presetting it in the monitoring target apparatus 10 andstores information indicating whether or not to store the monitoringinformation in the monitoring information storage DB 1022, andinformation indicating a time interval for acquiring the monitoringinformation. This monitoring information collection definitionmanagement table 1023 is used to collect the monitoring information.

Specifically speaking, the monitoring information collection definitionmanagement table 1023 includes a monitored target column 10231, awhether-stored-in-DB-or-not column 10232, an interval column 10233, andan offset column 10234.

The monitored target column 10231 stores information about a monitoredtarget resource among the resources of the monitoring target apparatus10. Moreover, the whether-stored-in-DB-or-not column 10232 storesinformation indicating whether or not to store the monitoringinformation, which is collected from the resource, in the monitoringinformation storage DB 1022. Furthermore, the interval column 10233stores information indicating the time interval for acquiring themonitoring information from the resource. Also, the offset column 10234stores information indicating count start time after offset when offsetis performed at previously designated time and timing for the purpose ofload reduction.

Therefore, in the case of FIG. 6, it is shown that, for example, if themonitoring target resource is a “CPU,” the collected monitoringinformation (CPU activity ratio) is to be stored in the monitoringinformation storage DB 1022 (“Y”); the activity ratio of this CPU iscollected every “60” seconds; and if count time reaches the timing foroffset, time which has been counted is offset to “0” and the count isstarted.

FIG. 7 shows a logical structure of the monitoring condition managementtable 1031. The monitoring condition management table 1031 is a tablecreated by acquiring a monitoring condition, which was preset by theadministrator in the monitoring manager apparatus 20, from themonitoring manager apparatus 20 and stores information of a thresholdindicating whether or not to generate an event (monitoring condition).This monitoring condition management table 1031 is used to judge whetheror not to generate an event by evaluating the collected monitoringinformation.

Specifically speaking, the monitoring condition management table 1031includes a condition definition name column 10311, an anomaly conditioncolumn 10312, a warning condition column 10313, a monitoring time zonecolumn 10314, and a message column 10315.

The condition definition name column 10311 stores a condition definitionname. The anomaly condition column 10312 stores a threshold indicatingwhether the collected monitoring information is at an abnormal level ornot. The warning condition column 10313 stores a threshold indicatingwhether the collected information is at a warning level or not. Themonitoring time zone column 10314 stores information about a time zoneduring which the monitoring information is collected. The message column10315 stores a message template displayed on a display screen of themonitoring console 30 when the collected monitoring information is atthe abnormal or warning level.

Therefore, in the case of FIG. 7, it is shown that: for example, if thecondition definition name is “CPU Monitoring,” this entry stores themonitoring condition for the monitoring information collected from theCPU; and if the collected monitoring information (CPU activity ratio) ismore than 90% (“CPU>90”), the relevant level is the abnormal level; andif the collected CPU activity ratio is equal to or less than 90% andmore than 50% (“90≧CPU>50”), the relevant level is the warning level.Moreover, it is defined that the CPU activity ratio is always monitored(“Always”); and it is shown that if the relevant level is the abnormallevel or the warning level, the collected CPU activity ratio isdisplayed as a message.

FIG. 8 shows a logical structure of the primary apparatus eventretransmission queue 1032 and the secondary apparatus eventretransmission queue 1033. The primary apparatus event retransmissionqueue 1032 and the secondary apparatus event retransmission queue 1033store event E1 which should be retransmitted and is waiting to beretransmitted when its transmission from the monitoring target apparatus10 to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 has failed.

The primary apparatus event retransmission queue 1032 stores the eventE1 to be retransmitted to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 which isset as the primary apparatus; and the secondary apparatus eventretransmission queue 1033 stores the event E1 to be retransmitted to themonitoring manager apparatus 20 which is set as the secondary apparatus.The same event E1 is stored in these queues.

FIG. 9 shows a logical structure of the event E1. The event E1 isgenerated when the collected monitoring information satisfies themonitoring condition managed by the monitoring condition managementtable 1031; and the event E1 stores information indicating that therelevant resource is at the abnormal level or the warning level, andinformation indicating whether an action should be executed or not.After this event E1 is generated, it is transmitted to the monitoringmanager apparatus 20; and if the transmission fails, it is stored in theevent retransmission queues 1032 and 1033.

Specifically speaking, the event E1 includes a condition definition namearea E11, a monitored target host name area E12, a status area E13, amonitoring information area E14, an action flag area E15, and adata/time area E16.

The condition definition name area E11 stores a condition definitionname. The monitored target host name area E12 stores an identifier ofthe monitoring target apparatus 10 having the resource evaluated asbeing at the abnormal level or the warning level. The status area E13stores information indicating whether the abnormal level or the warninglevel. The monitoring information area E14 stores the collectedmonitoring information. The action flag area E15 stores a flag forrequesting the execution of an action or a flag for not requesting theexecution of an action (a flag for requesting the action execution to bestopped). The data/time area E16 stores a date and time when the eventE1 was generated.

Therefore, in the case of FIG. 9, it is shown that since the conditiondefinition name is “CPU Monitoring,” this is an event about themonitoring information collected from the CPU (CPU activity ratio); themonitoring target apparatus 10 having this CPU is “host A”; and theactivity ratio of the collected CPU is at an “Abnormal” level. It isalso shown that the collected CPU activity ratio is “95”% and themonitoring manager apparatus 20 which receives this event is requestedto execute the action (“action flag: 1”). Moreover, it is shown thatthis event was generated on “2012/11/01 12:00:00.”

FIG. 10 shows a logical structure of the monitoring condition definitionmanagement DB 2021. The monitoring condition definition management DB2021 is information created by the administrator by presetting it in themonitoring manager apparatus 20 and includes threshold informationindicating whether to generate an event or not (monitoring condition).This monitoring condition definition management DB 2021 is masterinformation of the monitoring condition management table 1031 and isused by the monitoring target apparatus 10 to create the monitoringcondition management table 1031.

Specifically speaking, the monitoring condition definition management DB2021 includes a condition definition name area 20211, a monitored targettype area 20212, an anomaly condition area 20213, a warning conditionarea 20214, a monitoring time zone area 20215, and a message area 20216.

The condition definition name area 20211 stores a condition definitionname. The monitored target type area 20212 stores the type of amonitored target. The anomaly condition area 20213 stores a thresholdindicating whether the collected monitoring information is at theabnormal level or not. The warning condition area 20214 stores athreshold indicating whether the collected information is at the warninglevel or not. The monitoring time zone area 20215 stores informationabout a time zone during which the monitoring information is collected.When the collected monitoring information is at the abnormal or warninglevel, the message area 20216 stores a message template displayed on thedisplay screen of the monitoring console 30.

Therefore, in the case of FIG. 10, it is shown that: for example, if thecondition definition name is “CPU Monitoring,” this entry stores themonitoring condition for the monitoring information collected from theCPU; and since the CPU is a target to be monitored target, a monitoringtype “Platform” is stored; and it is defined that if the collectedmonitoring information (CPU activity ratio) is more than 90% (“CPU>90”),the relevant level is the abnormal level; and if the collected CPUactivity ratio is equal to or less than 90% and more than 50%(“90≧CPU>50”), the relevant level is the warning level. Moreover, it isdefined that the CPU activity ratio is always monitored (“Always”); andit is shown that if the relevant level is the abnormal level or thewarning level, the collected CPU activity ratio is displayed as amessage.

FIG. 11 shows a logical structure of the monitoring conditiondistribution destination management DB 2022. The monitoring conditiondistribution destination management DB 2022 is information created bythe administrator by presetting it in the monitoring manager apparatus20 and includes information indicating a location to which themonitoring condition defined by the monitoring condition definitionmanagement DB 2021 is distributed. This monitoring conditiondistribution destination management DB 2022 is used by the monitoringtarget apparatus 10 to create the monitoring condition management table1031.

Specifically speaking, the monitoring condition distribution destinationmanagement DB 2022 includes a condition definition name area 20221 and adistribution target host area 20222.

The condition definition name area 20221 stores a condition definitionname. Moreover, the distribution target host area 20222 stores anidentification of the monitoring target apparatus 10 that is thelocation where the monitoring condition is distributed.

Therefore, in the case of FIG. 11, it is shown that the monitoringcondition whose condition definition name is “CPU Monitoring” isdistributed to two monitoring target apparatuses 10, “host A” and “hostB.”

FIG. 12 shows a logical structure of the action definition management DB2023. The action definition management DB 2023 is information created bythe administrator by presetting it in the monitoring manager apparatus20 and includes information indicating the content of an action to beexecuted when an event is issued. This action definition management DB2023 is used when the monitoring manager apparatus 20 executes theaction.

Specifically speaking, the action definition management DB 2023 includesa condition definition name area 20231, an action condition area 20232,a mail area 20233, a command area 20234, an SNMP area 20235, and anaction execution destination area 20236.

The condition definition name area 20231 stores a condition definitionname. The action condition area 20232 stores information indicating ananomaly or a warning as an action condition. The mail area 20233 storesinformation indicating whether or not to issue mail as the content ofthe action. The command area 20234 stores information indicating whetheror not to issue a command as the content of the action, and the contentof the command when it is issued. The SNMP area 20235 stores informationindicating whether or not to monitor or control a monitoring targetapparatus 10 (particularly, a network device) connected to thecommunication path N1, using the SNMP (Simple Network ManagementProtocol).

Therefore, in the case of FIG. 12, it is shown that, for example, if thecondition definition name is “Memory Monitoring” and the actioncondition is “Warning,” mail is issued as the content of the action.

FIG. 13 shows a screen structure of the display screen 31 for themonitoring console 30. The display screen 31 is a screen displayed whenthe administrator operates the monitoring console 30; and histories ofevents and monitoring information received by the monitoring managerapparatus 20 are displayed.

Specifically speaking, the display screen 31 includes a data/time column311, a host column 312, a status column 313, a condition definition namecolumn 314, and a message column 315.

The data/time column 311 displays a date and time when the relevantevent was received. The host column 312 displays an identifier of themonitoring target apparatus 10. The status column 313 displaysinformation indicating that the monitoring target apparatus 10 which hasissued the event is at an abnormal level, a warning level, or a normallevel. The condition definition name column 314 displays the conditiondefinition name. The message column 315 displays a message about aresource which has collected the monitoring information.

Therefore, in the case of FIG. 13, it is shown that an event indicatingthat the CPU activity ratio is “Abnormal” was received from themonitoring target apparatus 10 “host A” on the date and time “2012/11/0112:00:00.”

(1-5) Flowcharts

FIG. 14 illustrates a processing sequence of monitoring conditionacquisition processing. This monitoring condition acquisition processingis executed based on the monitoring agent 1034 (the monitoringinformation collection service program P1) and the CPU 102 as triggeredby activation of the monitoring agent 1034. The monitoring agent 1034will be explained as a processing subject for the purpose ofillustration.

The monitoring agent 1034 firstly issues a monitoring conditionacquisition request to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 and acquiresa monitoring condition from the monitoring manager apparatus 20 (SP11).Incidentally, after receiving the monitoring condition acquisitionrequest issued from the monitoring agent 1034, the monitoring managerapparatus 20 refers to the monitoring condition distribution destinationmanagement DB 2022 and acquires a condition definition name (forexample, CPU monitoring) required for the monitoring agent 1034 whichissued the monitoring condition acquisition request. Next, themonitoring manager apparatus 20 refers to the monitoring conditiondefinition management DB 2021 and acquires the monitoring condition (forexample, an entry for the CPU monitoring) corresponding to thepreviously acquired condition definition name. Then, the monitoringmanager apparatus 20 transmits the acquired monitoring condition to themonitoring agent 1034.

Then, after receiving the monitoring condition issued from themonitoring manager apparatus 20, the monitoring agent 1034 writes thereceived monitoring condition to the monitoring condition managementtable 1031 in the memory 103 (SP12) and terminates this processing.

FIG. 15 illustrates a processing sequence of monitoring informationcollection processing. This monitoring information collection processingis executed based on the monitoring agent 1034 (the monitoringinformation collection service program P1) and the CPU 102 as triggeredby the acquisition of the monitoring condition by the monitoring agent1034.

Firstly, the monitoring agent 1034 accesses the local disk 102 andacquires the monitoring information collection definition managementtable 1023 (SP21). Then, the monitoring agent 1034 judges whether theinterval time has elapsed or not, by referring to the acquiredmonitoring information collection definition management table 1023(SP22).

If the monitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for thisjudgment, it repeats this judgment until the interval time elapses. Onthe other hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmativeresult for this judgment, it executes monitoring information collectionprocessing (SP23). The details of this monitoring information collectionprocessing will be explained later (FIG. 16).

Next, the monitoring agent 1034 judges whether or not an instruction tostop the monitoring information collection service program P1 has beenissued or not (SP24). Incidentally, it is possible to issue theinstruction to stop the monitoring information collection serviceprogram P1 by, for example, having a service engineer or anadministrator execute arbitrary operation on the monitoring targetapparatus 10. If the monitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result forthis judgment, the monitoring agent 1034 proceeds to step SP22 andcontinues repeating the aforementioned processing of loop A. On theother hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmative resultfor this judgment, it terminates this processing.

FIG. 16 illustrates a detailed processing sequence of the monitoringinformation collection processing. This monitoring informationcollection processing is executed based on the monitoring agent 1034(the monitoring information collection service program P1) and the CPU102 as triggered when the processing in the monitoring informationcollection processing (FIG. 15) proceeds to step SP23.

Firstly, the monitoring agent 1034 collects the monitoring informationfrom the monitoring target apparatus 10 (SP31) and evaluates thecollected monitoring information by referring to the monitoringcondition management table 1031 (SP32). For example, if the collectedmonitoring information is information indicating that the CPU activityratio is 90%, and since the relevant level is the abnormal level in acase of the CPU activity ratio >90% with reference to the monitoringcondition management table 1031, the monitoring agent 1034 can evaluatethe monitoring target apparatus 10, from which the monitoringinformation is collected, as being in an abnormal state.

The monitoring agent 1034 judges if the collected monitoring informationexceeds an abnormal/warning condition or not (SP33). If the monitoringagent 1034 obtains a negative result for this judgment, it proceeds tostep SP36. On the other hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains anaffirmative result for this judgment, it generates an event (SP34).Then, the monitoring agent 1034 issues the generated event to themonitoring information storage service program P2 (SP35).

The monitoring agent 1034 judges whether to store the monitoringinformation, which was collected in step SP31, in the monitoringinformation storage DB 1022 or not, by referring to the monitoringinformation collection definition management table 1023 (SP36). If themonitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for this judgment, itterminates this processing without storing the collected monitoringinformation in the monitoring information storage DB 1022. On the otherhand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmative result forthis judgment, it issues the collected monitoring information to themonitoring information storage service program P2 (SP37) and terminatesthis processing.

FIG. 17 illustrates a processing sequence of event transmissionprocessing. This event transmission processing is executed based on themonitoring agent 1034 (the monitoring information storage serviceprogram P2) and the CPU 102 as triggered when the monitoring informationstorage service program P2 receives the monitoring information or eventissued from the monitoring information collection service program P1.

Firstly, the monitoring agent 1034 judges whether it has received theevent or monitoring information issued from the monitoring informationcollection service program P1 (SP41). If the monitoring agent 1034determines as a result of this judgment that it has received themonitoring information, it stores the received monitoring information inthe monitoring information storage DB 1022 (SP42). On the other hand, ifthe monitoring agent 1034 determines as a result of this judgment thatit has received the event, it executes event transmission processing fortransmitting the received event to the monitoring manager apparatus 20(SP43). The details of the event transmission processing will beexplained later (FIG. 18).

Next, the monitoring agent 1034 judges whether or not a certain amountof time has elapsed since the event retransmission processing afterstoring the monitoring information or transmitting the event (SP44). Ifthe monitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for this judgment,it proceeds to step SP47. On the other hand, if the monitoring agent1034 obtains an affirmative result for this judgment, it judges whetherany untransmitted event exists in the event retransmission queues 1032and 1033 or not (SP45).

If the monitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmative result for thisjudgment, it executes the event retransmission processing (SP46). Thedetails of this event retransmission processing will be explained later(FIG. 19). On the other hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains anegative result for this judgment, it proceeds to step SP47.

Subsequently, the monitoring agent 1034 judges whether or not aninstruction to stop the monitoring information storage service programP2 has been issued or not (SP47). If the monitoring agent 1034 obtains anegative result for this judgment, it proceeds to step SP41 andcontinues repeating the aforementioned processing of loop A. On theother hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmative resultfor this judgment, it terminates this processing.

FIG. 18 illustrates a detailed processing sequence of the eventtransmission processing. This event transmission processing is executedbased on the monitoring agent 1034 (the monitoring information storageservice program P2) and the CPU 102 as triggered when the processing inthe event transmission processing (FIG. 17) proceeds to step SP43.

Firstly, the monitoring agent 1034 sets an action flag of the event to 1(SP51). Incidentally, the event in this example is not an event storedin the event retransmission queues 1032 and 1033, but is an event whichis to be transmitted to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 right now.

Next, the monitoring agent 1034 executes primary apparatus flagresetting processing (SP52). The details of the primary apparatus flagresetting processing will be explained later (FIG. 20); however, brieflyspeaking, the primary apparatus flag resetting processing is processingexecuted, when the primary apparatus event retransmission queue 1032stores an event(s) waiting to be transmitted besides the event to betransmitted right now to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 which isset as the primary apparatus, to also transmit the event(s), which isstored in the primary apparatus event retransmission queue 1032 and iswaiting to be transmitted, at the same time. When this happens, thisprocessing is to set the action flag of all events, which are stored inthe primary apparatus event retransmission queue 1032 to be transmitted,to 1 or 0.

After executing the primary apparatus flag resetting processing, themonitoring agent 1034 transmits the event to the monitoring managerapparatus 20, which is set as the primary apparatus, and then judgeswhether the transmission has been successful or failed (SP53).

Regarding the event which has failed to be transmitted, the monitoringagent 1034 copies the event and stores it in the primary apparatus eventretransmission queue 1032 (SP54). Then, since the transmission hasfailed, the monitoring agent 1034 sets the action flag to 1 (SP55).

On the other hand, regarding the event which has been successfullytransmitted, the monitoring agent 1034 sets the action flag of thisevent to 0 without storing it in the primary apparatus eventretransmission queue 1032 (SP56).

Next, the monitoring agent 1034 executes secondary apparatus flagresetting processing (SP57). The details of the secondary apparatus flagresetting processing will be explained later (FIG. 21); however, brieflyspeaking, the secondary apparatus flag resetting processing isprocessing executed, when the secondary apparatus event retransmissionqueue 1033 stores an event(s) waiting to be transmitted besides theevent to be transmitted right now to the monitoring manager apparatus 20which is set as the secondary apparatus, to also transmit the event(s),which is stored in this secondary apparatus event retransmission queue1033 and is waiting to be transmitted, at the same time. When thishappens, this processing is to set the action flag of all events, whichare stored in this secondary apparatus event retransmission queue 1033to be transmitted, to 1 or 0.

After executing the secondary apparatus flag resetting processing, themonitoring agent 1034 transmits the event to the monitoring managerapparatus 20, which is set as the secondary apparatus, and then judgeswhether the transmission has been successful or failed (SP58).

Regarding the event which has failed to be transmitted, the monitoringagent 1034 copies the event and stores it in the secondary apparatusevent retransmission queue 1033 (SP59) and terminates this processing.

On the other hand, regarding the event which has been successfullytransmitted, the monitoring agent 1034 determines that the event whichwas intended to be transmitted has been successfully transmitted to themonitoring manager apparatus 20 as the secondary apparatus and all theevents which were stored in the secondary apparatus event retransmissionqueue 1033 and waiting to be transmitted have been successfullytransmitted; and then terminates this processing.

FIG. 19 illustrates a detailed processing sequence of eventretransmission processing. This event retransmission processing isexecuted based on the monitoring agent 1034 (the monitoring informationstorage service program P2) and the CPU 102 as triggered when theprocessing in the event transmission processing (FIG. 17) proceeds tostep SP46.

Firstly, the monitoring agent 1034 executes primary apparatus flagresetting processing (SP61). The primary apparatus flag resettingprocessing is processing for setting the action flag of all the events,which are stored in the primary apparatus event retransmission queue1032 and are waiting to be transmitted as described above, to 1 or 0 andthe details of the processing will be explained later (FIG. 20).

Next, after executing the primary apparatus flag resetting processing,the monitoring agent 1034 executes processing for transmitting all theevents stored in the primary apparatus event retransmission queue 1032to the monitoring manager apparatus 20, which is set as the primaryapparatus, and judging whether the transmission has been successful orfailed (SP62).

Regarding the event which has been successfully transmitted, themonitoring agent 1034 deletes it from the primary apparatus eventretransmission queue 1032 (SP63) and proceeds to step SP64.

On the other hand, regarding the event which has failed to betransmitted, the monitoring agent 1034 executes the secondary apparatusflag resetting processing (SP64). The secondary apparatus flag resettingprocessing is processing for setting the action flag of all the events,which are stored in the secondary apparatus event retransmission queue1033 and are waiting to be transmitted as described above, to 1 or 0 andthe details of the processing will be explained later (FIG. 21).

Then, after executing the secondary apparatus flag resetting processing,the monitoring agent 1034 executes processing for transmitting all theevents stored in the secondary apparatus event retransmission queue 1033to the monitoring manager apparatus 20, which is set as the secondaryapparatus, and judging whether the transmission has been successful orfailed (SP65).

Regarding the event which has failed to be transmitted, the monitoringagent 1034 terminates this processing. On the other hand, regarding theevent which has been successfully transmitted, the monitoring agent 1034deletes it from the secondary apparatus event retransmission queue 1033(SP66) and terminates this processing.

FIG. 20 illustrates a processing sequence of the primary apparatus flagresetting processing. This primary apparatus flag resetting processingis executed based on the monitoring agent 1034 (the monitoringinformation storage service program P2) and the CPU 102 as triggeredwhen the processing in the event transmission processing (FIG. 18)proceeds to step SP52 or the processing in the event retransmissionprocessing (FIG. 19) proceeds to step SP61.

Firstly, the monitoring agent 1034 judges whether there is any eventstored in the primary apparatus event retransmission queue 1032 (SP71).If the monitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for thisjudgment, no event for which the action flag should be reset exists inthe queue and, therefore, the monitoring agent 1034 terminates thisprocessing.

On the other hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmativeresult for this judgment, it extracts any one of the events stored inthe primary apparatus event retransmission queue 1032 as a processingtarget and sets this as event P (SP72).

Subsequently, the monitoring agent 1034 judges whether the same event asevent P extracted as the processing target exists in the secondaryapparatus event retransmission queue 1033 or not (SP73).

If the monitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for thisjudgment, that is, if the same event as event P does not exist in thesecondary apparatus event retransmission queue 1033, the monitoringagent 1034 determines that the same event as event P has already beentransmitted to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 which is set as thesecondary apparatus. Now, assuming that the action flag of the firsttransmitted event is set to 1, the action flag of the event transmittedto the monitoring manager apparatus 20, which is set as the secondaryapparatus, is set to 1. Therefore, the monitoring agent 1034 sets theaction flag of this event P to 0 (SP74).

On the other hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmativeresult for this judgment, it determines that the same event as event Phas never been transmitted to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 whichis set as the secondary apparatus. Therefore, the monitoring agent 1034sets the action flag of this event P to 1 (SP75).

The monitoring agent 1034 judges whether or not the processing from stepSP72 to step SP75 has been executed on all the events stored in thesecondary apparatus event retransmission queue 1033 (SP76). If themonitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for this judgment, itproceeds to step SP72 and repeats the aforementioned processing. On theother hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result forthis judgment, it terminates this processing.

FIG. 21 illustrates a processing sequence of secondary apparatus flagresetting processing. This secondary apparatus flag resetting processingis executed based on the monitoring agent 1034 (the monitoringinformation storage service program P2) and the CPU 102 as triggeredwhen the processing in the event transmission processing (FIG. 18)proceeds to step SP57 or the processing in the event retransmissionprocessing (FIG. 19) proceeds to step SP64.

Firstly, the monitoring agent 1034 judges whether or not there is anyevent stored in the secondary apparatus event retransmission queue 1033(SP81). If the monitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for thisjudgment, no event for which the action flag should be reset exists inthe queue and, therefore, the monitoring agent 1034 terminates thisprocessing.

On the other hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmativeresult for this judgment, it extracts any one of the events stored inthe secondary apparatus event retransmission queue 1033 as a processingtarget and sets this as event S (SP82).

Subsequently, the monitoring agent 1034 judges whether or not the sameevent as event S extracted as the processing target exists in theprimary apparatus event retransmission queue 1032 (SP83).

If the monitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for thisjudgment, that is, if the same event as event S does not exist in theprimary apparatus event retransmission queue 1032, the monitoring agent1034 determines that the same event as event S has already beentransmitted to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 which is set as theprimary apparatus. Now, assuming that the action flag of the firsttransmitted event is set to 1, the action flag of the event transmittedto the monitoring manager apparatus 20, which is set as the primaryapparatus, is set to 1. Therefore, the monitoring agent 1034 sets theaction flag of this event S to 0 (SP84).

On the other hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmativeresult for this judgment, it determines that the same event as event Shas never been transmitted to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 whichis set as the primary apparatus. Therefore, the monitoring agent 1034sets the action flag of this event S to 1 (SP85).

The monitoring agent 1034 judges whether or not the processing from stepSP82 to step SP85 has been executed on all the events stored in theprimary apparatus event retransmission queue 1032 (SP86). If themonitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for this judgment, itproceeds to step SP82 and repeats the aforementioned processing. On theother hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result forthis judgment, it terminates this processing.

FIG. 22 illustrates a processing sequence of event transfer processing.This event transfer processing is executed based on the monitoringmanager P3 (the event transfer service program P31) and the CPU 201 astriggered when the monitoring manager P3 (the event transfer serviceprogram P31) receives the event transmitted from the monitoring agent1034. For the purpose of illustration, the monitoring manager P3 will beexplained as a processing subject.

Firstly, the monitoring manager P3 judges whether it has received anevent or not (SP91). If the monitoring manager P3 obtains a negativeresult for this judgment, it waits to receive an event. On the otherhand, if the monitoring manager P3 obtains an affirmative result forthis judgment, it transfers the received event to the configurationmanagement service program P32 (SP92). After receiving the event, theconfiguration management service program P32 enables the monitoringmanager apparatus 20 to centrally manage the status of the monitoringtarget apparatus 10 by, for example, accumulating the received event(s).

Then, the monitoring manager P3 transfers the received event to theView-I/F service program P34 (SP93). After receiving the event, theView-I/F service program P34 transfers the received event to themonitoring console 30 so that the content of the event can be viewed onthe display screen of the monitoring console 30.

Subsequently, the monitoring manager P3 judges whether the action flagof the received event is 0 or 1 (SP94). If the action flag is 0, themonitoring manager P3 proceeds to step SP96. On the other hand, if theaction flag is 1, the monitoring manager P3 issues an action executionrequest to the action execution service program P33 (SP95) and proceedsto step SP96.

The monitoring manager P3 judges whether or not an instruction to stopthe event transfer service program P31 has been issued or not (SP96). Ifthe monitoring manager P3 obtains a negative result for this judgment,it proceeds to step SP91 and continues repeating the aforementionedprocessing of loop A. On the other hand, if the monitoring manager P3obtains an affirmative result for this judgment, it terminates thisprocessing.

FIG. 23 illustrates a processing sequence of action executionprocessing. This action execution processing is executed based on themonitoring manager P3 (the action execution service program P33) and theCPU 201 as triggered when the processing in the event transferprocessing (FIG. 22) proceeds to step SP95 and the action executionservice program P33 receives the action execution request issued fromthe event transfer service program P31.

Firstly, the monitoring manager P3 has the configuration managementservice program P32 refer to the action definition management DB 2023and acquires an action definition indicating the content of an action(SP101). For example, the monitoring manager P3 acquires mail, acommand, and SNMP, which are associated with the condition definitionname, as the action definition.

Next, the monitoring manager P3 judges whether it has received an actionexecution request or not (SP102). If the monitoring manager P3 obtains anegative result for this judgment, it proceeds to step SP104. On theother hand, if the monitoring manager P3 obtains an affirmative resultfor this judgment, it executes the action (SP103) and proceeds to stepSP104.

The monitoring manager P3 judges whether an instruction to stop theconfiguration management service program P32 has been issued or not(SP104). If the monitoring manager P3 obtains a negative result for thisjudgment, it proceeds to step SP102 and continues repeating theaforementioned processing. On the other hand, if the monitoring managerP3 obtains an affirmative result for this judgment, it terminates thisprocessing.

(1-6) Advantageous Effect of this Embodiment

If the monitoring manager apparatuses 20 having the double activeconfiguration are employed and the monitoring agent 1034 generates anevent, the monitoring system 1 according to this embodiment as describedabove is designed to issue the event to all the monitoring managerapparatuses 20. So, even if either one of the monitoring managerapparatuses 20 stops, the other monitoring manager apparatus 20 whichhas received the event issued from the monitoring agent 1034 can be madeto continue monitoring control. Therefore, it is possible to avoidmonitoring control from stopping.

Furthermore, since this embodiment is designed so that the monitoringagent 1034 controls the receiver, to which the action execution requestis issued, and issues the action execution request to only either one ofthe monitoring manager apparatuses 20, it is possible to prevent faultexecution of the action which occurs when the monitoring managerapparatuses 20 having the double active configuration are simplyemployed.

Therefore, since it is possible according to this embodiment to avoidmonitoring control from stopping and prevent fault execution of theaction, monitoring control can be operated continuously stably.

(2) Second Embodiment

The difference between a second embodiment and the first embodiment isthat according to the second embodiment, the monitoring target apparatus10 retains one common event retransmission queue without retaining twoqueues, that is, the primary apparatus event retransmission queue 1032and the secondary apparatus event retransmission queue 1033, separatelyin the memory 103. Another difference is that as one common eventretransmission queue is retained, an event to be stored in the eventretransmission queue is made to include information indicating whetheror not to transmit the event to the primary apparatus and the secondaryapparatus. The differences will be explained below in detail withreference to the relevant drawings.

(2-1) Details of Each Structure

FIG. 24 shows a logical structure of an event retransmission queue1032A. The event retransmission queue 1032A stores event E1A to beretransmitted when the event was transmitted from the monitoring targetapparatus 10 to the monitoring manager apparatus 20, but thetransmission has failed. The event retransmission queue 1032A storesevent E1A to be retransmitted to a monitoring manager apparatus 20,which is set as a primary apparatus, or event E1A to be retransmitted toa monitoring manager apparatus 20 which is set as a secondary apparatus.Specifically speaking, even if the event has already been transmitted toeither one of the monitoring manager apparatuses 20, which are theprimary apparatus and the secondary apparatus, and has not beentransmitted to the other monitoring manager apparatus 20, theuntransmitted event is stored in this event retransmission queue 1032A.If the event is retransmitted to both the monitoring manager apparatuses20 which are the primary apparatus and the secondary apparatus, eventE1A in this queue is deleted.

FIG. 25 shows a logical structure of event E1A. Event E1A is generatedwhen the collected monitoring information satisfies the monitoringcondition managed by the monitoring condition management table 1031; andevent E1A stores information indicating that the relevant level is anabnormal level or a warning level, and information indicating whether ornot to execute an action. When this event E1A is generated, it istransmitted to both the monitoring manager apparatuses 20 which are theprimary apparatus and the secondary apparatus; and if the transmissionto either one of them has been successful and the transmission to theother monitoring manager apparatus 20 has failed, event E1A is stored inthe event retransmission queue 1032A.

Specifically speaking, event E1A includes a condition definition namearea E11A, a monitored target host name area E12A, a status area E13A, amonitoring information area E14A, an action flag area E15A, a data/timearea E16A, a whether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not area E17A,and a whether-transmitted-to-secondary-apparatus-or-not area E18A.

The condition definition name area E11A stores a condition definitionname. The monitored target host name area E12A stores an identifier of amonitoring target apparatus 10 having a resource evaluated as being atthe abnormal level or the warning level. The status area E13A storesinformation indicating whether the abnormal level or the warning level.The monitoring information area E14A stores the collected monitoringinformation. The action flag area E15A stores a flag to request theexecution of an action or a flag to not request the execution of anaction. The data/time area E16A stores a date and time when event E1Awas generated. The whether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not areaE17A stores information indicating whether this event E1A has beentransmitted to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 which is the primaryapparatus. Also, the whether-transmitted-to-secondary-apparatus-or-notarea E18A stores information indicating whether this event E1A has beentransmitted to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 which is thesecondary apparatus.

Therefore, in the case of FIG. 25, it is shown that since the conditiondefinition name is “CPU Monitoring,” the relevant event is an eventabout monitoring information collected from the CPU (CPU activityratio); the monitoring target apparatus 10 having this CPU is “host α”;and the activity ratio of the collected CPU is at an “Abnormal” level.Moreover, since the collected CPU activity ratio is “95” % and thisevent has already been transmitted to the monitoring manager apparatus20 which is the primary apparatus (“whether transmitted to the primaryapparatus or not: Y”) and has not been transmitted to the monitoringmanager apparatus 20 which is the secondary apparatus, it is shown thatthe monitoring manager apparatus 20 which is the secondary apparatus andreceives this event does not request the execution of the action(“action flag: 0”). It is also shown that this event was generated on“2012/11/01 12:00:00.”

FIG. 26 shows a conceptual diagram of correspondence relationshipinformation 1035. The correspondence relationship information 1035 isinformation created, for example, in the memory 103 by the administratorby presetting it in the monitoring target apparatus 10 and storesinformation indicating a combination of action flags corresponding to acombination of whether the relevant event has been transmitted to theprimary apparatus and the secondary apparatus. This correspondencerelationship information 1035 is used, when retransmitting event E1Astored in the event retransmission queue 1032A to the monitoring managerapparatus 20 which is the primary apparatus or the secondary apparatus,to rewrite the action flag of event E1A to be retransmitted.

Specifically speaking, the correspondence relationship information 1035includes a whether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not area 10351, awhether-transmitted-to-secondary-apparatus-or-not area 10352, anaction-flag-upon-transmission-to-primary-apparatus area 10353, and anaction-flag-upon-transmission-to-secondary-apparatus area 10354.

The whether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not area 10351 stores Ywhen event E1A has already been transmitted, or N when event E1A has notbeen transmitted yet, as information indicating whether event E1A hasbeen transmitted to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 which is theprimary apparatus. If N is stored in thewhether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not area 10351 whenretransmitting event E1A, event E1A is retransmitted to the monitoringmanager which is the primary apparatus. Thewhether-event-is-transmitted-to-secondary-apparatus-or-not area 10352stores Y when event E1A has already been transmitted, or N when eventE1A has not been transmitted yet, as information indicating whetherevent E1A has been transmitted to the monitoring manager apparatus 20which is the secondary apparatus. If N is stored in thewhether-transmitted-to-secondary-apparatus-or-not area 10352 whenretransmitting event E1A, event E1A is retransmitted to the monitoringmanager which is the secondary apparatus. Furthermore, theaction-flag-upon-transmission-to-primary-apparatus area 10353 storesinformation about the action flag when retransmitting event E1A to themonitoring manager apparatus 20 which is the primary apparatus. Theaction-flag-upon-transmission-to-secondary-apparatus area 10354 storesinformation about the action flag when retransmitting event E1A to themonitoring manager apparatus 20 which is the secondary apparatus.

Therefore, in the case of FIG. 26, for example, when event E1A isinitially generated, event E1A has not been transmitted to any of themonitoring manager apparatuses 20 which are the primary apparatus andthe secondary apparatus (whether transmitted to the primary apparatus ornot: N; and whether transmitted to the secondary apparatus or not: N).If event E1A is stored in the event retransmission queue 1032A in thisstate, it is shown that the action flag of the event E1A is set to 1.Subsequently, if this event E1A is stored in the event retransmissionqueue 1032A in a state where event E1A has been transmitted to themonitoring manager apparatus 20, which is the primary apparatus, and hasnot been transmitted to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 which is thesecondary apparatus (whether transmitted to the primary apparatus ornot: Y; and whether transmitted to the secondary apparatus or not: N),the monitoring manager apparatus 20 which is the secondary apparatus andreceives event E1A will not be made to execute the action, so that it isshown that the action flag of the event E1A is set to 0. Furthermore, itis shown that if this event E1A is transmitted to the monitoring managerapparatus 20 which is the secondary apparatus, event E1A is deleted fromthe event retransmission queue 1032A and will not be stored in thequeue.

(2-2) Flowcharts

FIG. 27 illustrates a detailed processing sequence of event transmissionprocessing according to the second embodiment. This event transmissionprocessing is executed based on the monitoring agent 1034 (themonitoring information storage service program P2) and the CPU 102 astriggered when the processing in the event transmission processing (FIG.17) proceeds to step SP43.

Firstly, the monitoring agent 1034 sets the action flag of the event to1 (SP111). Incidentally, the event mentioned here is not an event storedin the event retransmission queues 1032 and 1033, but is an event whichis to be transmitted to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 right now.

Next, the monitoring agent 1034 executes primary apparatus flagresetting processing according to the second embodiment (SP112). Thedetails of the primary apparatus flag resetting processing according tothe second embodiment will be explained later (FIG. 29); however,briefly speaking, the primary apparatus flag reselling processing isprocessing executed, when an event(s) waiting to be transmitted, besidesthe event to be transmitted right now to the monitoring managerapparatus 20 which is set as the primary apparatus, is stored in theevent retransmission queue 1032A, to also transmit the event(s), whichis stored in this event retransmission queue 1032A and is waiting to betransmitted, at the same time. When this happens, this processing is toset the action flag of all events, which are stored in this eventretransmission queue 1032A to be transmitted, to 1 or 0.

After executing the primary apparatus flag resetting processing, themonitoring agent 1034 transmits events, including those whosewhether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not is N, among the eventsstored in the event retransmission queue 1032A to the monitoring managerapparatus 20, which is set as the primary apparatus, and then judgeswhether the transmission has been successful or failed (SP113).

Regarding the event which has failed to be transmitted, the monitoringagent 1034 sets the whether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not to N(SP114). Then, since the transmission has failed, the monitoring agent1034 sets the action flag of this event to 1 (SP115).

On the other hand, regarding the event which has been successfullytransmitted, the monitoring agent 1034 sets the action flag of thisevent to 0 (SP116) and also sets thewhether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not to Y (SP117).

Next, as preparation for transmission of the event to the monitoringmanager apparatus 20 which is the secondary apparatus, the monitoringagent 1034 executes secondary apparatus flag resetting processingaccording to the second embodiment (SP118). The details of the secondaryapparatus flag resetting processing according to the second embodimentwill be explained later (FIG. 30); however, briefly speaking, thesecondary apparatus flag resetting processing is processing executed,when an event(s) waiting to be transmitted, besides the event to betransmitted right now to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 which isset as the secondary apparatus, is stored in the event retransmissionqueue 1032A, to also transmit the event(s), which is stored in thisevent retransmission queue 1032A and is waiting to be transmitted, atthe same time. When this happens, this processing is to set the actionflag of all events, which are stored in this event retransmission queue1032A to be transmitted, to 1 or 0.

After executing the secondary apparatus flag resetting processing, themonitoring agent 1034 transmits events, including those whosewhether-transmitted-to-secondary-apparatus-or-not is N, among the eventsstored in the event retransmission queue 1032A, to the monitoringmanager apparatus 20, which is set as the secondary apparatus, and thenjudges whether the transmission has been successful or failed (SP119).

Regarding the event which has failed to be transmitted, the monitoringagent 1034 sets the whether-transmitted-to-secondary-apparatus-or-not toN (SP120) and also stores this event in the event retransmission queue1032A (SP121) and then terminates this processing.

On the other hand, regarding the event which has been successfullytransmitted, the monitoring agent 1034 sets thewhether-transmitted-to-secondary-apparatus-or-not to Y (SP122) and alsojudges whether the whether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not is Nor not (SP123).

If the monitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmative result for thisjudgment, this means that the event has been transmitted to themonitoring manager apparatus 20 which is the secondary apparatus, butnot transmitted to the monitoring manager apparatus which is the primaryapparatus. So, the monitoring agent 1034 stores this event in the eventretransmission queue 1032A (SP121) and terminates this processing.

On the other hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains a negativeresult for the judgment of step SP123, it determines that the eventwhich was to be transmitted just then has been successfully transmittedto both the monitoring manager apparatuses 20, which are the primaryapparatus and the secondary apparatus, and all the events, which werestored in the event retransmission queue 1032A and waiting to betransmitted, have also been transmitted successfully; and then themonitoring agent 1034 terminates this processing.

FIG. 28 illustrates a detailed processing sequence of eventretransmission processing according to the second embodiment. This eventretransmission processing is executed based on the monitoring agent 1034(the monitoring information storage service program P2) and the CPU 102as triggered when the processing in the event transmission processing(FIG. 17) proceeds to step SP46.

Firstly, the monitoring agent 1034 executes the primary apparatus flagreselling processing (SP131). The primary apparatus flag resettingprocessing is processing as described above for setting the action flagof all the events, which are stored in the event retransmission queue1032A and waiting to be transmitted, to 1 or 0 and the details of theprocessing will be explained later (FIG. 29).

Next, after executing the primary apparatus flag resetting processing,the monitoring agent 1034 executes processing for transmitting events,including those whose whether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not isN, among the events stored in the event retransmission queue 1032A tothe monitoring manager apparatus 20, which is set as the primaryapparatus, and then judges whether the transmission has been successfulor failed (SP132).

Regarding the event which has been successfully transmitted, themonitoring agent 1034 setswhether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not to N (SP133) andproceeds to step SP135.

On the other hand, regarding the event which has been successfullytransmitted, the monitoring agent 1034 sets thewhether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not to Y (SP134) andproceeds to step SP135.

Subsequently, the monitoring agent 1034 executes secondary apparatusflag resetting processing (SP135). The secondary apparatus flagresetting processing is processing as described for setting the actionflag of all the events, which are stored in the event retransmissionqueue 1032A and waiting to be transmitted, to 1 or 0 and the details ofthe processing will be explained later (FIG. 30).

Then, after executing the secondary apparatus flag resetting processing,the monitoring agent 1034 executes processing for transmitting events,including those whose whether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not isN, among the events stored in the event retransmission queue 1032A tothe monitoring manager apparatus 20, which is set as the secondaryapparatus, and then judges whether the transmission has been successfulor failed (SP136).

Regarding the event which has failed to be transmitted, the monitoringagent 1034 sets the whether-transmitted-to-secondary-apparatus-or-not toN (SP137). On the other hand, regarding the event which has beensuccessfully transmitted, the monitoring agent 1034 sets thewhether-transmitted-to-secondary-apparatus-or-not to Y (SP138).

Then, the monitoring agent 1034 finally executes transmitted eventdeletion processing (SP139) and terminates this processing. Thetransmitted event deletion processing is processing for deleting theevent transmitted to both the monitoring manager apparatuses 20, whichare the primary apparatus and the secondary apparatus, from the eventretransmission queue 1032A and the details of the processing will beexplained later (FIG. 31).

FIG. 29 illustrates a processing sequence of the primary apparatus flagreselling processing according to the second embodiment. This primaryapparatus flag resetting processing is executed based on the monitoringagent 1034 (the monitoring information storage service program P2) andthe CPU 102 as triggered when the event transmission processing (FIG.18) proceeds to step SP52 or the processing in the event retransmissionprocessing (FIG. 19) proceeds to step SP61.

Firstly, the monitoring agent 1034 judges whether there is any eventstored in the event retransmission queue 1032A (SP141). If themonitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for this judgment, thismeans that no event for which the action flag should be reset exists inthe queue; and, therefore, the monitoring agent 1034 terminates thisprocessing.

On the other hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmativeresult for this judgment, it extracts any one of the events stored inthe event retransmission queue 1032A as a processing target and setsthis as event P (SP142).

Subsequently, the monitoring agent 1034 judges whether or not thewhether-transmitted-to-secondary-apparatus-or-not is set to N, withrespect to event P extracted as the processing target (SP143).

If the monitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for thisjudgment, it determines that event P has already been transmitted to themonitoring manager apparatus 20 which is the secondary apparatus. Then,since the action flag of the first transmitted event is set to 1, theaction flag of event P transmitted to the monitoring manager apparatus20 which is the secondary apparatus is set to 1. Therefore, themonitoring agent 1034 sets the action flag of this event P to 0 (SP144).

On the other hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmativeresult for the judgment of step SP143, it determines that event P hasnot been transmitted yet to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 which isset as the secondary apparatus. Therefore, the monitoring agent 1034sets the action flag of this event P to 1 (SP145).

The monitoring agent 1034 judges whether or not the processing from stepSP142 to step SP145 has been executed on all the events stored in theevent retransmission queue 1032A (SP146). If the monitoring agent 1034obtains a negative result for this judgment, it proceeds to step SP142and repeats the aforementioned processing. On the other hand, if themonitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for this judgment, itterminates this processing.

FIG. 30 illustrates a processing sequence of the secondary apparatusflag resetting processing according to the second embodiment. Thissecondary apparatus flag resetting processing is executed based on themonitoring agent 1034 (the monitoring information storage serviceprogram P2) and the CPU 102 as triggered when the processing in theevent transmission processing (FIG. 18) proceeds to step SP57 or theprocessing in the event retransmission processing (FIG. 19) proceeds tostep SP64.

Firstly, the monitoring agent 1034 judges whether there is any eventstored in the event retransmission queue 1032A (SP151). If themonitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for this judgment, thismeans that that no event for which the action flag should be resetexists in the queue; and, therefore, the monitoring agent 1034terminates this processing.

On the other hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmativeresult for this judgment, it extracts any one of the events stored inthe event retransmission queue 1032A as a processing target and setsthis as event S (SP152).

Subsequently, the monitoring agent 1034 judges whether or not thewhether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not is set to N, withrespect to event S extracted as the processing target (SP153).

If the monitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for thisjudgment, it determines that event S has already been transmitted to themonitoring manager apparatus 20 which is the primary apparatus. Then,since the action flag of the first transmitted event is set to 1, theaction flag of event S transmitted to the monitoring manager apparatus20 which is the primary apparatus is set to 1. Therefore, the monitoringagent 1034 sets the action flag of this event S to 0 (SP154).

On the other hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmativeresult for this judgment, it determines that event S has not beentransmitted yet to the monitoring manager apparatus 20 which is set asthe primary apparatus. Therefore, the monitoring agent 1034 sets theaction flag of this event S to 1 (SP155).

The monitoring agent 1034 judges whether or not the processing from stepSP152 to step SP155 has been executed on all the events stored in theevent retransmission queue 1032A (SP156). If the monitoring agent 1034obtains a negative result for this judgment, it proceeds to step SP152and repeats the aforementioned processing. On the other hand, if themonitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for this judgment, itterminates this processing.

FIG. 31 illustrates a processing sequence of the transmitted eventdeletion processing. This transmitted event deletion processing isexecuted based on the monitoring agent 1034 (the monitoring informationstorage service program P2) and the CPU 102 as triggered when theprocessing in the event retransmission processing (FIG. 28) according tothe second embodiment proceeds to step SP139.

Firstly, the monitoring agent 1034 judges whether or not there is anyevent stored in the event retransmission queue 1032A (SP161). If themonitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for this judgment, thismeans that that no event to be deleted exists in the queue; and,therefore, the monitoring agent 1034 terminates this processing.

On the other hand, if the monitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmativeresult for this judgment, it extracts any one of the events stored inthe event retransmission queue 1032A as a processing target and setsthis as event R (SP162).

Subsequently, the monitoring agent 1034 judges whether or not thewhether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not is set to Y, withrespect to event R extracted as the processing target (SP163).

If the monitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for thisjudgment, it proceeds to step SP166. On the other hand, if themonitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmative result for this judgment,it judges whether or not thewhether-transmitted-to-secondary-apparatus-or-not is set to Y, withrespect to event R extracted as the processing target (SP164).

If the monitoring agent 1034 obtains a negative result for thisjudgment, it proceeds to step SP166. On the other hand, if themonitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmative result for this judgment,it deletes event R, which was extracted as the processing target, fromthe event retransmission queue 1032A (SP165).

The monitoring agent 1034 judges whether or not the processing from stepSP162 to step SP165 has been executed on all the events stored in theevent retransmission queue 1032A (SP166). If the monitoring agent 1034obtains a negative result for this judgment, it proceeds to step SP162and repeats the aforementioned processing. On the other hand, if themonitoring agent 1034 obtains an affirmative result for this judgment,it terminates this processing.

(2-3) Advantageous Effects of this Embodiment

The monitoring system 1 according to this embodiment is designed asdescribed above so that thewhether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not information and thewhether-transmitted-to-secondary-apparatus-or-not information are storedin an event and the action flag of the event to be stored in the queueis set based on the combination of these pieces ofwhether-transmitted-or-not information. So, the same advantageouseffects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained by retainingone common event retransmission queue 1032A without retaining two queuesfor the primary apparatus and the secondary apparatus in the memory 103.

(3) Other Embodiments

In this embodiment, one of the monitoring manager apparatuses 20 havingthe double active configuration is set as the primary apparatus and theother one is set as the secondary apparatus; however, the invention isnot limited to this example and, for example, the invention may beconfigured so that even the monitoring manager apparatus 20 which is setas the primary apparatus for one administrator may be used as themonitoring manager apparatus 20 which is set as the secondary apparatusfor another administrator.

Specifically speaking, the primary apparatus and the secondary apparatusin the connection destination monitoring manager management table 1021are set for each monitoring target apparatus 10. For example, with afirst monitoring target apparatus 10 among a plurality of monitoringtarget apparatuses 10, the monitoring manager apparatus 20 “host α” isset as the primary apparatus and the monitoring manager apparatus 20“host β” is set as the secondary apparatus. Meanwhile, with a secondmonitoring target apparatus 10, “host α” is set as the secondaryapparatus and “host β” is set as the primary apparatus. By setting theprimary apparatus and the secondary apparatus individually for eachmonitoring target apparatus 10 in this way, it is possible to set themonitoring manager apparatus 20 “host α” as the primary apparatus forthe first monitoring target apparatus 10 and set the monitoring managerapparatus 20 “host β” as the primary apparatus for the second monitoringtarget apparatus 10. As a result, it is possible to set the monitoringmanager apparatus 20 (the primary apparatus) intended to primarilyexecute an action for each administrator. It is also possible to setinformation that can be viewed by each administrator.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   1 monitoring system-   10 monitoring target apparatus-   1034 monitoring agent-   20 monitoring manager apparatus-   P3 monitoring manager-   30 monitoring console

1. (canceled)
 2. A monitoring target apparatus connected to a pluralityof monitoring manager apparatuses, the monitoring target apparatuscomprising, in a memory, a monitoring agent for collecting monitoringinformation from monitoring target resources among resourcesconstituting the monitoring target apparatus and monitoring conditionmanagement information that defines an event issuance condition for eachtype of the monitoring target resources; wherein the monitoring agentjudges whether to issue an event or not, based on the monitoringinformation and the monitoring condition management information; and ifthe monitoring agent issues the event, it transmits the issued event toall the plurality of monitoring manager apparatuses, wherein when themonitoring agent receives the event, it transmits an action executionrequest to any one monitoring manager apparatus of the plurality ofmonitoring manager apparatuses to request execution of a predeterminedaction at the monitoring manager apparatus.
 3. A monitoring targetapparatus according to claim 2, wherein if the transmission of theaction execution request to the one monitoring manager apparatus hasbeen successful, the monitoring agent transmits an action stop requestto another monitoring manager apparatus, which is different from the onemonitoring manager apparatus, to request no execution of the action atthe monitoring manager apparatus even when it has received the event. 4.A monitoring target apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the event isconfigured by including the action execution request or the action stoprequest; and wherein the monitoring agent requests the one monitoringmanager apparatus to execute an action by sending the event to the onemonitoring manager apparatus; and the monitoring agent requests theother monitoring manager apparatus to stop the action by sending theevent to the other monitoring manager apparatus.
 5. A monitoring targetapparatus according to claim 4, wherein the monitoring target apparatusis configured by including, in a memory, connection destinationmonitoring manager management information for managing each of theplurality of monitoring manager apparatuses and priority by associatingthem with each other; and wherein when the monitoring agent issues theevent, it refers to the connection destination monitoring managermanagement information and transmits an event including the actionexecution request to a high-priority monitoring manager apparatus; andwhen the transmission has been successful, the monitoring agenttransmits an event including the action stop request to a low-prioritymonitoring manager apparatus.
 6. A monitoring target apparatus accordingto claim 5, wherein when the transmission of the event to the monitoringmanager apparatus has failed, the monitoring target apparatus isconfigured by including, in the memory, an event retransmission queuefor storing the event which has failed to be transmitted; wherein whenthe monitoring agent is to retransmit an event stored in the eventretransmission queue to the high-priority monitoring manager apparatus,it includes either the action execution request or the action stoprequest in all events stored in the event retransmission queue andretransmits the event to the high-priority monitoring manager apparatus;and wherein when the monitoring agent is to retransmit an event storedin the event retransmission queue to the low-priority monitoring managerapparatus, it includes either the action execution request or the actionstop request in all events stored in the event retransmission queue andtransmits the event to the low-priority monitoring manager apparatus. 7.A monitoring target apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the eventretransmission queue includes a primary apparatus event retransmissionqueue to be retransmitted to the high-priority monitoring managerapparatus and a secondary apparatus event retransmission queue to beretransmitted to the low-priority monitoring manager apparatus; whereinwhen the monitoring agent is to retransmit an event stored in theprimary apparatus event retransmission queue to the high-prioritymonitoring manager apparatus, it includes, with respect to all eventsstored in the primary apparatus event retransmission queue, the actionexecution request in an event, which is also stored in the secondaryapparatus event retransmission queue, or includes the action stoprequest in an event, which is not stored in the secondary apparatusevent retransmission queue, and then retransmits the event stored in theprimary apparatus event retransmission queue to the high-prioritymonitoring manager apparatus; and wherein when the monitoring agent isto retransmit an event stored in the secondary apparatus eventretransmission queue to the low-priority monitoring manager apparatus,it includes, with respect to all events stored in the secondaryapparatus event retransmission queue, the action execution request in anevent, which is also stored in the primary apparatus eventretransmission queue, or includes the action stop request in an event,which is not stored in the primary apparatus event retransmission queue,and then retransmits the event stored in the secondary apparatus eventretransmission queue to the low-priority monitoring manager apparatus.8. A monitoring target apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the eventretransmission queue is one queue commonly used to be retransmitted toboth the high-priority monitoring manager apparatus and the low-prioritymonitoring manager apparatus; wherein the event includeswhether-transmitted-to-primary-apparatus-or-not information indicatingwhether the event has been transmitted to the high-priority monitoringmanager apparatus or not, andwhether-transmitted-to-secondary-apparatus-or-not information indicatingwhether the event has been transmitted to the low-priority monitoringmanager apparatus; wherein when the monitoring agent is to retransmit anevent stored in the event retransmission queue to the high-prioritymonitoring manager apparatus, it includes, with respect to all eventsstored in the event retransmission queue, the action execution requestin an event, which has not been transmitted yet to the low-prioritymonitoring manager apparatus, or includes the action stop request in anevent, which has been transmitted to the low-priority monitoring managerapparatus, and then retransmits the event stored in the eventretransmission queue to the high-priority monitoring manager apparatus;and wherein when the monitoring agent is to retransmit an event storedin the event retransmission queue to the low-priority monitoring managerapparatus, it includes, with respect to all events stored in the eventretransmission queue, the action execution request in an event, whichhas not been transmitted yet to the high-priority monitoring managerapparatus, or includes the action stop request in an event, which hasbeen transmitted to the high-priority monitoring manager apparatus, andthen retransmits the event stored in the event retransmission queue tothe low-priority monitoring manager apparatus.
 9. (canceled)
 10. Anagent program for having a computer for a monitoring target apparatus,which is connected to a plurality of monitoring manager apparatuses,implement: a function of the monitoring target apparatus that comprises,in a memory, a monitoring agent for collecting monitoring informationfrom monitoring target resources among resources constituting themonitoring target apparatus and monitoring condition managementinformation that defines an event issuance condition for each type ofthe monitoring target resources; and a function of the monitoring agentthat judges whether to issue an event or not, based on the monitoringinformation and the monitoring condition management information andtransmits the issued event to all the plurality of monitoring managerapparatuses if the monitoring agent issues the event, wherein themonitoring agent has a function that transmits an action executionrequest, upon receipt of the event, to any one monitoring managerapparatus of the plurality of monitoring manager apparatuses to requestexecution of a predetermined action at the monitoring manager apparatus.11. An agent program according to claim 10, wherein if the transmissionof the action execution request to the one monitoring manager apparatushas been successful, the monitoring agent has a function that transmitsan action stop request to another monitoring manager apparatus, which isdifferent from the one monitoring manager apparatus, to request noexecution of the action at the monitoring manager apparatus even when ithas received the event.
 12. (canceled)
 13. A monitoring systemcomprising a monitoring target apparatus and a plurality of monitoringmanager apparatuses connected to the monitoring target apparatus,wherein the monitoring target apparatus is configured by including, in amemory, a monitoring agent for collecting monitoring information frommonitoring target resources among resources constituting the monitoringtarget apparatus and monitoring condition management information thatdefines an event issuance condition for each type of the monitoringtarget resources; wherein the monitoring agent judges whether to issuean event or not, based on the monitoring information and the monitoringcondition management information; and if the monitoring agent issues theevent, it transmits the issued event to all the plurality of monitoringmanager apparatuses; and wherein each of the monitoring managerapparatuses receives the event from the monitoring agent, wherein whenthe monitoring agent receives the event, it transmits an actionexecution request to any one monitoring manager apparatus of theplurality of monitoring manager apparatuses to request execution of apredetermined action at the monitoring manager apparatus; and whereineach of the monitoring manager apparatuses executes the action based onthe action execution request from the agent.
 14. A monitoring systemaccording to claim 13, wherein if the transmission of the actionexecution request to the one monitoring manager apparatus has beensuccessful, it transmits an action stop request to another monitoringmanager apparatus, which is different from the one monitoring managerapparatus, to request no execution of the action at the monitoringmanager apparatus even when it has received the event; and wherein eachof the monitoring manager apparatuses controls the action to not executeit, based on the action stop request from the agent even when itreceives the event.